Editorial: Patrick tackles opiate addition

Monday

Apr 7, 2014 at 12:35 AM

It takes strong medicine to fight an epidemic, which is what Gov. Deval Patrick prescribed last week in response to the dramatic increase in opiate addiction – and heroin overdoses – in Massachusetts.Patrick announced a three-pronged approach: funding education and prevention efforts, putting overdose antidotes in the hands of emergency responders, and stopping the introduction of a new, highly addictive painkiller to both medicine cabinets and the streets of the commonwealth.The governor’s first pronouncement involved the allocation of $20 million toward drug abuse education, prevention and treatment programs. Although desperately needed, Patrick must work to guarantee accountability when it comes to the allocation of these funds, ensuring that they will be spent in such a way that maximizes effectiveness. He instructed the state’s Interagency Council on Substance Abuse and Prevention to develop a list of recommendations to streamline the availability and effectiveness of such services.Patrick’s second action was to order all police departments be equipped with a generic version of Narcan, a powerful anti-overdose medication that has saved thousands of lives over the course of a seven-year trial program.Patrick’s third front is perhaps the most radical; he took the unprecedented step of banning a new, potentially highly addictive painkiller from the commonwealth’s pharmacy shelves.At issue is Zohydro, a pain killer similar to, but more powerful than, oxycodone and related prescription drugs believed responsible for the growth of opiate abuse in recent years. Approved by the Food and Drug Administration last October despite concerns about its potency, its addictive nature and the potential it brings for accidental overdoses, Zohydro may help its creators win a piece of the lucrative market in prescription painkillers, but it offers little but danger to the public.Yes, prescription drugs are a necessary tool to help people manage pain, but could not the pharmaceutical companies focus their efforts toward creating non-narcotic solutions to meet such needs rather than developing additional addictive substances?Concurrent with that pronouncement, Patrick also put physicians and pharmacies on notice that they too must be part of the solution. To that end, both groups must now participate in a prescription monitoring program. Up to this point, such participation has been voluntary.This last step, if not implemented carefully, risks unfairly branding as conspirators physicians who specialize in treating chronic pain. But it has been clear to addiction experts for years that opiate-based prescription drugs are the leading cause of new addictions. The addiction may start with reasonable therapy for a genuine malady, but it’s a cure that, if not monitored carefully, can prove worse than the disease. Such drugs often fall into the hands of those – especially children – who use them for fun, not therapy, and end up with a habit that can ruin their lives. Prescribing physicians must be part of preventing addiction, not enabling it.